What is Past, Cannot be Undone
by Antigone1Evenstar
Summary: Just a possibility of Yugi's past that was never told. He's kept a lot hidden from his friends- a whole life, in fact.
1. Crash

Yami sat frowning out the window. He was anxious to get back to Domino, and not just because he was stuck riding a plane with a very grumpy Seto Kaiba. No, he was worried because Yugi hadn't contacted him. That Yugi hadn't come with him was strange enough, but only one email the entire two weeks? That was unheard of. He was worried, and willed the plane to fly faster. He knew, of course, that they would be landing soon to refuel before the final trek, but everything within him was yelling at the plane to FLY FASTER.

Smiling half-heartedly at Mokuba's attempts to bring his brother out of his foul mood, Yami resumed his window-glaring posture. He was lost in his thoughts, trying to figure out what was up with Yugi. He had only asked Soguroku about Yugi's odd behavior, and had received a 'when you get back we'll talk but until then don't worry.' As if. This only made Yami even MORE worried. Why was he the only one who seemed to realize the importance of their bond? This was his hikari, of COURSE he was going to worry. He shook himself out of the dark thoughts. No. He had just resolved to think more logically about it, when the plane shook and everything began to speed up - shouts, metal crunching- and finally…darkness.

Coming to, Yami was immensely pleased to find that he hurt just enough to let him know he was alive, but not enough to make him wish to avoid coming back to reality. He lay still a moment, awake, but with his eyes closed. Taking inventory, he realized that it was mostly his head that was hurting, everything else simply felt bruised, battered, and tired. Much better than dead. He heard voices talking in a language unfamiliar to him, though faintly Slavic. Perhaps. His heart almost stopped though, when he heard a familiar voice. It sounded, for the life of him, like Yugi! It couldn't be. They weren't in Japan, were they? Time to get answers, he thought.

Forcing his eyes open, he steeled himself and pushed with his right elbow, managing to get himself into a sitting position. Leaning against the wall next to his bed, he blinked as his eyes adjusted, the dim light still hurting and causing his eyes to water. They weren't in a hospital, he realized. Odd. The voices were in the next room. Wait, it wasn't technically a room, Yami realized. It was more of a cave, with light filtering in from somewhere above his head. Natural light. Seto lay on a cot a few feet away, and a smaller cot, probably for Mokuba, lay empty, though apparently used. Good. Steps could be heard coming closer, and Mokuba came rushing into the room, lunch still in hand. He came to a stop when he saw Yami sitting up.

"Yami!" he said happily, though quietly so as not to disturb his brother. "I'm glad you're awake. Seto woke for the first time a little earlier today, but he was only awake for a few minutes. Yugi says-"

"Wait, YUGI says?" interrupted Yami.

"Oh! Yes. Oops. Yugi's here. He says that Seto will be waking up in a few hours, probably." Yami was still stuck back at Yugi says.

"Back up. Where is here, exactly?" Mokuba sighed.

"Just hold on, why don't I get Yugi for you and then you can ask him all these questions."

"No need, Mokuba, I'm here already," came a voice from the entry. It was Yugi. He quickly walked over to Yami to keep his dark from getting up. "Wait, wait, don't push yourself. That's our job," he said jokingly.

"But, Yugi, what, I mean, where?" Yami broke off confusedly.

"How very articulate of you, Yami, quite typical, but I agree with your sentiments. What is this?" came a very familiar, decidedly matter-of-fact voice. Mokuba was beside himself with joy. Yugi watched him bounce around with amusement.

"Don't hurt the patient, Mokuba." Turning to Yami and Seto, he asked if they needed anything.

"Just answers." Came the rather curt reply. Yami gave Seto a look that said 'watch it around my hikari,' but Yugi just shrugged it off.

"I will give you the answers you want. But I have to check on some kids first." That made no sense to either of the two newly awoken duelists, but Yugi was gone.

But only for a moment. He quickly reappeared with two children, younger than Mokuba. Their clothing was worn, thoroughly patched, but clean. It was just a little big on both the boy and the girl, but it wasn't too bad. Setting them both on two other empty cots, Yugi gently and expertly cleaned a cut on the boys head and bandaged it, then did the same for another cut on the girls leg. Both children sat quietly, not moving or making a sound during the process. Yugi talked gently with them, letting them know what he was going to do and if it was going to hurt or not. Yami and Seto watched the process in silence. Mokuba had sat on the floor, containing his usual exuberance, and instead smiled, talking to the two in the same quiet voice Yugi was.

The process was complete. Yugi asked if the two wanted to sleep here, or to go play 'with the others.' They both made a movement to get off the cots, and so Mokuba escorted them out of the room. Neither child had said a word. Yami and Seto looked at Yugi, who was busy putting supplies back. "What in the world was that?"


	2. Twins

Disclaimer: Nothing of YuGiOh! belongs to me.

* * *

"What in the world was that?"

Seto Kaiba was never overly patient when he wanted answers. Yugi continued cleaning, and answered, "That is why I am here. It is where I come from, it is what I work to end." Seto was puzzled by the rather ambiguous answer (though he would never admit it), and demanded further explanation.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Yami would have glared at Kaiba, but he was too busy watching Yugi. The expressions on his face were…different. Very different. Yugi was remembering…Yugi never remembered, Yami realized, he never talked about the years before the Millennium Puzzle was solved.

Taking in Yugi's appearance with a glance, he was rather surprised. Wearing an olive colored army-style jacket over a dull black shirt, with stained khaki pants and sturdy shoes, Yugi had a look on his face that was a far cry from his usual cheerful, carefree self. It was a serious, world-weary look that made one think the person wearing it was many centuries old. It looked like it belonged on Yugi's face though, which made Yami worry.

"It's a long story, so I'm glad you're both awake. I don't wish to tell it twice," he said, giving an odd, forced smile. Mokuba was still gone. "It's best if he doesn't…I mean, I don't think he should hear some of this. If you think it's okay, you can tell him later. But he's playing with the other children now. He's good with them," Yugi added absently. He looked lost in thought. Finally he sighed and sat down on a cot, facing them. "I haven't told the story in a while, so forgive me if I'm not very clear. I'll answer your questions as best I can. Just know that I might decide not to." Seto looked as though he wanted to protest, but something in Yugi's face- or voice? Made him stop.

A girl, about the same height as Yugi, came in. "Thought you could hide, did you? Well come on, let me see the trouble you got yourself into this time." Yugi sighed and with the girls help took off the jacket. Rolling up the baggy sleeves of the black shirt, to just above the elbow of his left arm, a slightly bleeding wound was exposed. Yami realize that the stain he had barely noticed on the jacket had been blood. The girl sighed. "So this makes it, what, the seventh time?" Yugi nodded.

"If you count that one accident. It barely hit me." The girl shrugged.

"It counts." In response to Seto's unspoken question, Yugi clarified.

"Seventh time I've been shot, exploded, or knifed. This was a bullet grazing. Eliana," he said, indicating the girl, "is honestly a bit of a worry-wart."

"Humph. Tell that to someone who doesn't spend all their time fixing you up after your 'adventures'. Your stupid luck will run out one of these days," she ended, sighing. Yugi gave her a charming smile.

"So nice of you to worry." She just dabbed him hard with the cleansing solution, making him hiss. Satisfied, she continued her ministrations while Yugi began his explanation.

"You are currently in the war-torn land of Movia. Your plane crashed. We saw it in trouble, and while the pilots were both killed, you three survived. We had to destroy the plane as much as we could. Sorry, but we couldn't risk anyone thinking someone was alive and looking for you. We rescued anything that looked important. It's in a pile behind you, Seto." Seto nodded. "Not much was completely undamaged, but we really haven't checked. You're both fine, just knocked out. Mokuba recovered first, thanks to you protecting him, Seto." Seto shrugged it off. What else did they expect him to do? Idiots.

"Anyway. It's obvious you want to know why I'm here. I lived here. With my family." Yugi sighed, shifting as Eliana tightened the bandage. He winced and nodded, indicating that it was tight enough. Putting the supplies up, Eliana sat on the other cot, looking at a list and quietly muttering calculations. "When I was eight, war had not yet broken out. My father was sent to live among the people, and learn the best ways to earn the country money while not threatening the people. It's what my dad did, he was like a Nations advisor. He would go, learn about the country, and make suggestions. He solved a lot of problems and travelled a lot. Well, this was going to be a family project. We had moved to a small town, Gornv, south and west of here." Yugi looked a little lost in memories at this point. "It was beautiful. The house was a traditional one, though it did have electricity and running water. The flowers…Alessa and Jolandra loved to pick them. The flowers grew in tall fields though, so all you could see of them were the very tops of twin black hair tied in ribbons." He fidgeted with the bandage on his arm absently, though at a reproving glare from Eliana he stopped. "Who are Alessa and Jolandra?" Asked Yami.

"My twin sisters."


	3. Deserved or not

"Twin sisters?" Came Yami's shocked echo. "Where are they now?" Yugi's face was unreadable. "You'll find out in a minute." Eliana was looking at him carefully over the paper, pretending to be absorbed in whatever she was supposed to be doing. "We were very happy, for a while. But war was brewing, my father could tell. He was good at reading the mindset, and all he saw was a potential explosion. Quietly, he started to arrange for us to leave. But war moves swiftly, and soon the borders were closed except for the three countries that border Movia, but their borders were closed as well. Everyone in the doomed four was stuck. Still, my father made plans for us to leave and jump the border. There was still time, the war had really only been declared, it was limited to a few long-winded speeches about 'crushing resistance' and such. That ended in my ninth year. It was spring. We were leaving the next night. Most of our things had been sent, before the war started, to Jii-chans. We only had our small bags to carry with us. We were one night too late. The soldiers came, and the war truly erupted that night in our village. My parents and sisters were killed. I escaped only by lucky" he said the word sarcastically, "coincidence."

He looked as though he were going to move one, but Eliana cleared her throat. "You know you'll still have to tell them later if you don't tell them now." Yugi rolled his eyes at her.

"Yes, mom." Grinning at her annoyed look, he sobered once again and continued. "Fine. They started at our house because they found out that dad wasn't a citizen. Mom sent me after him, hoping that they would just, I don't know, interrogate him or something. They didn't. They just shot him and stuck him in a ditch. There wasn't anything I could do to help, so I ran back to make sure mom was safe. She wasn't. they had dragged her out of the house and shot her, then locked the twins inside and," his voice dropped to a pained whisper, "set the house on fire. She was still alive, trying to rescue my sisters. I don't know how, but I was able to break the door open by breaking off the handle. I ran to my sisters, who were blocked in their room by a piece of furniture. I managed to open that door as well, but Jolandra- it was too late. I watched- it was horrible- I barely managed to grab Alessa and run out. Mom was almost dead by that point. The soldiers were coming back. They were doing the same thing all over the village."

Yugi paused to take a shuddered breath. "Fire was everywhere, and screaming- not like amusement park screaming. The type of scream that haunts your worst nightmares. Pain, despair, no hope…" he trailed off, lost in memories. Yami tried, but the link was blocked off. Yugi came to on his own. "Alessa was doing bad. But I couldn't help her. All I knew was what dad had told me, that there was a refugee camp in the north. If I could get there, everything would be fine." He shook his head slowly. "I travelled as fast as I could. I hid us, though it was hard when Alessa slept. She just had these nightmares, and she was getting worse. She'd been burned pretty badly, and she kept coughing. But I couldn't help her. I didn't know natural medicine then like I do now. I helped her as much as I could, and I carried her."

He smiled fondly. "I was the proper height for my age, back then. And the twins had always been small. She was five, when she died. We made it to the camp. But they didn't have the supplies to help her either. All they could really do was make sure she wasn't in any more pain. She died less than a week after we got there." Yugi was rubbing a spot on his arm.

"I wasn't sure what to do, but I wanted to help other kids. I'd met some on the way up. Eliana and her brother Cole, for example. We formed a little…group, and our goal was to find kids and help them make it back to the camp. It's the only safe one, you see." Yugi shook his head. "I don't know what we were thinking, really. A bunch of eight and nine year olds. But really, we weren't kids. No one's a kid in this area, not anymore," Eliana said sadly. Yugi nodded, absently agreeing with her. He sighed. "We've been doing this ever since. Course, grandpa found me when I was fourteen, and took me away."

Yami was startled at the emotion in Yugi's voice. Was he angry about leaving?

"You know it turned out for the best, Yugi. You've helped us so much!" Eliana turned to Seto and Yami. "He sends money and supplies. At first it was just whatever he could, working part-time at the shop." Yugi interjected, "Jii-chan wanted me to forget. But I couldn't. I had to help." Eliana continued. "So! Yugi here started dueling. He sends us almost everything he earns, either in money or supplies. He knows how to get it to us too, without 'government aid' ministers stealing half of it. His grandpa can't do anything about it, other than insist Yugi save 10%. And I agree with him," she said, giving Yugi a very 'I-know-better-'cause-I'm-your-sister' sort of look.

"You deserve something for everything you've done," she insisted. Yugi shook his head angrily. "No. I understand that I'm helping, but don't tell me I deserve something for doing the right thing. It would be wrong it I didn't help."

"Sorry, that's not quite what I meant. I mean in principle, it's good that you have something besides us occupying your time. Something besides the past," she added softly. Yugi seemed to understand her intention this time and relaxed. Yami's eye caught something on Yugi's arm.

"What is that on your arm, Yugi?" he asked. Yugi sighed. Holding out his injured arm as well as he could, Yugi showed them. 01742. "It's the camp number I was assigned. I kinda got taken prisoner when I was 11." He shrugged to show it was no big deal. "I hide it with this paste stuff. It doesn't come off unless you rub it. Course, it itches like crazy. Don't know why I was hiding it here, though. There's really no need." Yami looked like he was about to have a panic attack. Or a nervous breakdown. Or go on a rampage, alternately driving insane and banishing to the shadow realm those who had DARED hurt his aibou.

Yugi was watching Yami's reaction, and sighed. "And THAT'S why no one in Domino-except Jii-chan, of course, knows, and he doesn't even know about everything. I didn't want to tell him, and maybe I stretched the truth a little bit. For his own good, of course. He barely handled my parents and sisters deaths, imagine if he knew the rest."

"So you- Yugi Moutou- actually LIED to your only living relative? And hid the truth from your friends? You r loyal, faithful, dweeb patrol?" Seto looked like he was more in shock at Yugi actually fibbing than anything else. Yugi's mouth twitched in an ill-hidden smile.

"You have no idea what I can do, Seto Kaiba. And yes, I did lie and hide the truth. You know how much I hate getting a bunch of attention. And this, honestly, was not really their problem. It was mine. Personal. Plus, it really is a safety breach for a ton of people to know."

"Yugi lied," muttered Kaiba. Yugi shook his head. "Perhaps we've had a few too many revelations for one day, yes?" he said. Eliana nodded, hiding her giggles as best she could. "If he acts like this now, what will he think when he finds out more?" she said evilly. Yugi glared, surprisingly well. Yami looked overwhelmed. "More?"


	4. Private Talk

"More? How can there be more?" Yami was starting to feel as though he had grossly neglected his promise to protect Yugi. Yugi caught on quick. "Yami, this all happened…uh, before we even met. There is no way you could have done anything. Besides, what is past cannot be undone. Therefore, you need to stop worrying about it. The present and future are far more important to us in the current conditions."

Seto looked surprised. Yugi looked surprised back. Maybe the crash had affected Seto's brain or something, he kept reacting.

"You realize how much you sounded like me just then, don't you?" Seto said. "You remember, my forget the past stance." Yugi shrugged. "I'm not saying to forget it. I'm just saying to not let it worry you. If I let it get to me, I'd never get anything done. Maybe that's why I'm so good at forgiving people; I can let go far easier than most."

The room was silent for a moment, as if the cave itself had to soak in the information. Mokuba came running into the room, effectively ending the conversation. For now, anyway.

Yami and Seto both insisted on moving under their own steam, and after several fierce glare wars, Eliana let them go. Yugi explained the situation.

"It's day. It's too dangerous to go out, so we stay hidden. This is one of the little shelters we have. Actually, this one is more like our second headquarters. We've got a lot of supplies here." He caught Seto eyeing the 'lot' with disdain. "Hey, it's better than what we started with: zilch." Moving on, he introduced the other occupants of the cave.

"Let me introduce Cole, Eliana's older brother, Dmitri, and Leanna is on guard duty right now, so you'll have to meet her later. The kids are Aden, Lochlann, and his little sister Willow," he said, the latter two children being the one's they had seen earlier getting medical attention. The kids shied away, Aden and Lochlann staying by Yugi's side, and Lochlann pushing Willow behind him protectively.

The children eyed the newcomers with suspicion.

Mokuba ran to Seto, giving him a fierce hug. Seto, decidedly still unbalanced from hitting his head, Yugi had decided, patted Mokuba's affectionately and smiled. This put the kids at ease, and soon they were playing quietly with a few hand carved wooden toys. Yugi sat down in a little niche, apparently his private spot, and finished a little wooden medallion.

Stringing it with leather, he walked over to Willow and gave it to her, fishing a carved, wooden bear out of his pocket for her brother. Both smiled charmingly. Yugi beamed back. Willow hugged him quickly, then ran to the mirror to put it on. Yugi looked like he had won a million bucks.

"They have a chance," he said to himself softly. Lochlann and Aden were comparing the animals Yugi had given them, a bear versus a dog.

Seto was supervising Mokuba, and Yami sat next to Yugi. There was silence between them for a minute, before Yugi broke it saying:

"All three lost their parents in the war. Aden's older brother was captured by soldiers. Probably joined them or dead by now. His younger brother…didn't make it." Silence reigned again. There were so many questions that Yami wanted to ask, and he wasn't sure where to even start.

"Is Kaiba ok? He's acting…strange…" Yami asked. Yugi smirked (wait, WHAT?) and replied softly, "he might be a little…woozy from pain killers…" Yami bit back a shout of laughter. "So he'll be back to normal eventually then, correct?" Yugi nodded. "Yes. Right back to his stoic, sarcastic self."

Yugi knew Yami was brimming over with questions. Yugi was holding his end of the link closed though. Too many emotions were running through him. He had always meant to tell Yami eventually, but he had hoped that it would be on his own time, not forced because a stupid plane crashed. Waiting until everyone else was occupied, he had Yami follow him through the tunnels into what looked like a small store-room. Pushing a plank of wood over the entry, Yugi sat against a crate.

"We can talk now. No one comes back here except me and Eliana, and she's about to go on guard duty. I know you've got questions."


	5. Ill growth

"I know you've got questions."

Yami couldn't sit down. He just started pacing. Where to begin?

"Ok. Let's start with why you're here. You never told me you were planning on going anywhere. Is that why you didn't want to come? Were you planning this all along?" Yugi looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Yes. But I had to deceive Jii-chan. He never wanted me to come back. But I had to! These are my friends. I'm not staying," he added hastily, seeing a look in Yami's eye. "But just sending money isn't enough. This is part of who I am. It shaped me more than you know, and more than he," meaning his grandfather, "wants to admit. I don't blame him. He thought he had lost the rest of his family, though he never stopped looking. You should have seen his eyes.

"When I told him that mom, dad, Jolandra and Alessa were all dead, it was like this huge part of him died. His eyes went dead. I never told him how they died. And he's never asked. He's…recovered some, now, but he doesn't want to admit that it happened. He wants to keep me safe. But I can't pretend!"

Yugi forgot his injured arm and slammed it against the ground, wincing as the movement stung a little.

"I can't forget, either," he said ruefully, rubbing nervously at his arm again.

"Tell me…tell me some things you can't forget. Please?" Yami was trying his hardest not to push the barrier Yugi had on their mind-link, even as everything inside of him wanted desperately to break straight through and find out who and what had hurt his hikari so much.

"I can't forget the children. They're the real casualties." Yami broke in to ask, "like your sisters?" Yugi nodded. "Yes."

Leaning back and sighing, Yugi continued. "I also can't forget things. Like how to look for traps, where the minefields most likely are, patrol formations, the natural painkillers. I'm actually pretty good at emergency medicine. I've had tons of practical experience," he added wryly.

"So, at the age of eight, you watched your life burn down. At nine, you started going on rescue missions. At eleven, you were put in a prison camp. At fourteen, your grandfather found you and took you back to Japan," said Yami, summing up. Yugi nodded. "Yep. That's my line. When Kaiba comes off his little excursion into the wonderful world of painkillers, we'll have a talk about Kaiba Corporation's role in this debacle. Not that Seto did any of this. This," said Yugi, gaze narrowing, "is all about Gozaburo. But I can finish that explanation later," he muttered.

Yugi seemed to notice he was rubbing his arm and stopped. "Bad habit," he said. "Perhaps I should explain this a bit more, though." Yami sat, outwardly the picture of patience, though inwardly he was…for lack of a better term, freaking out. Not that he would let it show. Pharaohs did NOT 'freak out'.

"It was my mistake," Yugi began. "I thought I had heard something while scouting ahead. I went too fast, got caught. Shouldn't have happened." Unconsciously, his hand had started rubbing the numbers again. Looking down, he stopped and tucked his right hand away.

"I was captured. Given a number. 01742." He spoke the words in a monotone, whether from habit or forced disregard Yami wasn't sure. "I was there for three months. Had a friend there. Not that we let anyone know. Really bad idea, that." He gave a half shudder, not speaking for a few moments. The mind-link barrier leaked a few emotions, and Yami got a taste of…pain…fear…but that was all.

Yugi continued speaking.

"It was bad there. Really bad. It was, of course, a relatively 'new' camp, but it was the worst. They had a contract, of sorts…for experiments. The nasty sort. Not just new medicines or treatments, but new torture devices as well. Anything that's not legal to test on humans-or animals, for that matter- you just send it to Camp 3, and you had your test results." Yami felt his insides frozen in horror.

"One of the favorite things they tested, which is now standard practice, is this…growth stunting thing. Biological warfare. They contaminate the drinking water. It stunts growth. Also increases the chances of getting and dying from disease. Lots of nasty side effects." Yami felt the question forcing its way out of his mouth.

"Is that why you…I mean, your growth…"

Yugi shrugged. "Yep." Yami wasn't sure he could handle this new information. He got up and started pacing again. "So that's why you, Eliana, the two boys-" "and Leanna. We'll all be short. Done growing. Nothing can be done, at least not yet. The kids- they might have a chance. We've got a way to purify the water, so if the kids can be kept from drinking any more water that's been contaminated, then they should grow to about their normal heights."

"That explains a lot," came a voice from the door. The plank of wood was moved aside, revealing an almost back to normal, Seto Kaiba. Yugi gave a half-hearted smile. "Feeling emotionless, yet?" Yami asked, no force behind the teasing, but he wanted to cheer up his aibou. Surprisingly, Seto shook his head no.

"This is a rare chance. Tell anyone about this, and you'll never live to regret it."

Yugi ignored the threat. "That's fine. I'm glad you came, some of this involves you-well, your company, to be strictly accurate."

Seto raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Specifically, Gozaburo Kaiba."


	6. Come out shooting

I know! I should have done this before.

I don't own or pretend to own anything except the idea. YuGiOh! Is most certainly not mine.

Seto scowled.

"What do you need with him?"

Yugi remained leaning against the crates, but explained. "This whole war was planned, started, funded, orchestrated, by that…thing." Seto looked skeptical. Yugi explained further. "Movia, and the surrounding countries now involved in the war, sit atop a mine of rare and very valuable minerals. Some can only be found in this area. Gozeburo had a nice little plan: start a war, clear out all the natives. Step in as savior, receive reward, gain control of vast amounts of valuable resources. Simple."

"Sounds just like him. But how do you know all this?" Yugi grinned. "I know more about Gozeburo Kaiba than almost anyone else. And I'm sure it was really him, not Dartz in disguise or anything," he added.

"The more I looked, the more I realized just how much he was pulling the strings. Every rebel carried a gun paid for- discreetly, of course-by KC. Public support went to the 'Official Government'. Hah! There's a new rebel group in charge every few months. When I was twelve, in fact, we averaged a new leader once a week for the entire summer. Fall and winter didn't do much to help that average, either."

"This has been my research when I got back to Japan. I had gathered some information, but it's rather hard in a war zone with no resources. Back in Japan though, some of this information was as easy as an internet search. Some basic hacking skills, meeting the right people- within three months I had all the info I needed. Not that it did much good, mind, but still.

"I felt like I was doing something. Don't worry, I didn't look into you or your business either," Yugi hastened to assure Seto.

"When you took over, the company funding ended. Actually, you're quite the hero around here. People picture you as the White Knight defeating the evil King. Everyone knows because all of the fighters complained about not getting new weapons."

Yami couldn't help it. The shock of imagining that whole countries thought of Seto Kaiba as their hero was too much. All he could do was sputter whilst Yugi sat on the floor, grinning like a madman at his yami's reaction. Seto didn't look in much better shape than Yami, though it was plain to see he was pleased.

"Did you honestly have to tell him that? Wasn't his ego big enough already?" Yami finally managed. Yugi just grinned mischievously and pulled at a blond strand.

Sobering, he continued explaining the political situation. "At first, it was just rebels and army. But it grew. Factions, anti-rebel groups, they all popped out of the woodwork. They usually start with noble intentions- 'protect the country' and all that. But they always end up just as bad as whoever they're supposed to be fighting. It's quite the vicious circle."

"So. Gozeburo had orchestrated everything. But something interrupted his perfect plan: you. When he died, it became 'every man for himself'." Seto halted Yugi's explanation with a hand motion. "Why don't I know about this?"

"Simple," answered Yugi. "Because not even the Big Five knew about this. In fact, everyone who was in on this plan from the start is dead. Either from 'natural' causes, suspicious accidents, outright assassinations, or the hazards of battle. But…" A worried look passed over Yugi's face.

"Spit it out, Moutou," demanded Kaiba.

"But, what worries me is this…other. It's not like Gozeburo to not have a…a failsafe. The ace up the sleeve, that is. And I think he did have one. I also think that there is one more person involved, and that there is a possibility that HE is still alive."

The room was silent, except for the faint happy chatter of Mokuba and the others, and a slow _drip_ of water falling from a distant spot on the ceiling.

"And the failsafe…I think," Yugi said slowly, "is an ultimate weapon designed to make a clean slate. There's no doubt that it could be rigged to look like a rebel groups work, or even an accident. And the fact that one person…one person has control over it, well honestly, it worries me. An unknown factor. I've tried desperately to find out who, what, etc., but it eludes me."

Yugi looked up, and shook his head as though trying to clear everything away.

"Of course, it's quite likely I'm wrong. There's very little actual _evidence_ of anything, you understand. It was all done quite well. If it was done, I mean." Yugi waved his hand as if to say, 'take from it what you will'.

"No, I do believe you are right, Yugi," said Seto. Yugi opened the mind-link to find that Yami shared his shock. Seto, while he had…mellowed, since their trip to Egypt, still didn't simply agree with anyone. Or tell them that they were right.

::Just how much of that painkiller stuff did you give him, Yugi?::

:Not that much! Maybe he's having a bad reaction:

They shared a look. Seto deliberately ignored them. "I recently discovered some papers indicating that there were…branches of Kaiba Corporation, business ventures, that were more than top secret."

Yugi just nodded, it was no surprise.

"What fresh hell is this?" muttered Kaiba. Yami looked at him, not quite understanding.

"I thought I could make up for everything _he_" –there was no need to clarify who he was- "did, I thought I could rid our lives of his influence by closing off and destroying those weapons factories. I thought by remaking the company I could cleanse it.

"Now I find myself stuck in the hell of a world he created for whole countries. He must be laughing at me from the grave."

Seto's face showed grave displeasure. "I do not like being laughed at. Or leaving things unfinished. We will fix this. After we get out of here, the first order of business is for you," he looked at Yugi, "to show me all this information you have gathered. Especially that which refers to the failsafe weapon you mentioned." Yugi nodded.

"Of course. And since you are no doubt wondering why I never brought it up before, once again, it was my problem. Added to that- well, I considered how much evidence it took to convince you magic was real, and considering how little concrete evidence I had…" Yugi tilted his head slightly, en eyebrow rising.

"Anyway. Perhaps I should explain what the next few days are going to look like. As long as all goes well. 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and if the worst comes, come out shooting.' That's my own personal variation of an old, popular adage."


	7. Teddy Bear Pickles

Thanks to all those who have reviewed!

Just in case: YuGiOh! Does not = mine. I'm serious.

"Alright," said Yugi, drawing a map in the dirt on the cave floor, "we are here, at the foot of the Greene Mountain Range. Our ultimate destination is here," he said, indicating a position in the north of the vaguely heart-shaped country,

"just at the foot of Mt. Ploy. That is where we'll be able to catch a ride out on one of the supply planes. Once we're back in civilization, I think that Mr. Kaiba here will be able to help us out."

"Now here's where we've got to be careful, the in-between parts. It should take us three twilights and dawns of travel. The day time leaves us too exposed, but at night it's too difficult to see the traps. So we go while there's enough light to see, but not clearly at a distance. We go all out, as fast and as quietly as we can for the little bit we have.

"Big kids carry the little ones. We take turns being point and rear guard. We usually rotate who carries who, but considering Mokuba…" Yugi trailed off as Seto nodded. "Considering Mokuba, you won't be asked to carry anyone else.

"I am the leader. That means that no matter what happens, what I say goes. At least in operations. If that's a problem, speak now. But I know what I'm doing, and I do not want anyone endangering anyone else. I must emphasize that no one cares who you are, it's shoot first, forget about asking questions."

"Any questions?"

Yugi sat back and waited. His dark seemed to be struggling to form coherent thoughts. He tried to send calming thoughts through the mind-link. It worked a little, but Yami still seemed to be surprised at his lights' leadership ability and commanding, business-like tone. It was unlike his usual care-free manner he lived back in Domino.

Yami still had a ton of questions, but perhaps he should wait and see if some of them would answer themselves by observing.

They left the back room, and watched as Yugi was almost run-over by overly enthusiastic children led by Mokuba. Dmitri was laughing heartily at this, but the smirk on Yugi's face made him stop. Dmitri groaned.

"No, you better not even THINK about it!"

"Think about what, Dmitri?" Yugi asked, as innocently as possible. "I'm sure I have NO idea what you could possibly be talking about."

Dmitri scowled fiercely. "You know what. You made me do it last time! It's someone else's turn now." His voice turned whiney. "Make Leanna do it, or Cole. You never make Eliana do it, make her do it once she gets back."

Yugi made a tut-tut sort of noise. "Ah, THAT. Maybe you shouldn't have laughed at me. Besides, Eliana does it for fun. There's no point in making her do it."

"Do what?" asked Mokuba, frustrated at the inside conversation.

"We have a certain tradition, you see. If someone gets…ahem, injured by the enemy, and live to tell the tale, they get one wish to make a person do anything they want." Yugi smiled broadly. "I survived a .45 and now I claim my wish. Dmitri knows, and wants to get out of it."

He shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately for Dmitri, I have already made my decision. Dmitri, I wish for you to dance the Crazy Teddy-Pickled Dance." Cole and Leanna applauded his choice. Dmitri spared a glare the them.

"You're just approving because he didn't choose you." Cole grinned, a lopsided grin, and said "Yep, you got it!"

"So Dmitri, what shall it be? Later on tonight, or right now?" asked the short Moutou.

His face growing darker by the minute, Dmitri muttered "Now. Might as well get it over with." With a somewhat resigned sigh, Dmitri stood up and walked to the center of the room. Yugi sat down with Willow on his lap and the two boys on either side. Mokuba leaned against Seto, who was standing against the back wall. Yami was watching from across the room, keeping close tabs on his aibou.

Dmitri sighed as Cole and Leanna started a drum-roll. Resigned to his fate, he broke out in a crazy dance and song number.

"Teddy Bear pickles jump 1, 2, 3,

Sing me a riddle, pretty please."

The children were giggling, Cole, Leanna and Yugi were laughing outright at Dmitri's discomfort, and Yami wasn't sure whether to be amused or very, very scared.

"All around the green honey-tree,

Teddy Bear pickles jump 1, 2, 3," Dmitri sang. Cole joined in on the next stanza, with Leanna harmonizing.

Three verses later, the performance was over, and Yugi explained.

"See, Cole wanted to help the kids learn their numbers and alphabet, so he tried to come up with a song to help. The result was the Teddy-Pickles song. Of course, Eliana couldn't leave well enough alone, and came up with the Crazy Teddy-Pickled dance."

"It keeps us amused," said Cole, looking very cat who ate the canary.

"And Yugi makes Dmitri do it whenever he gets a wish, because Dmitri is the only one who won't do it otherwise," finished Leanna.

"Which is what makes it so entertaining! Of course, we may have to deal with some nightmares tonight. Little kids tend to get them after Dmitri dances, so we don't do it right before bed," Yugi added.

"Laugh it up. Just you wait, I'll get you one of these days," Dmitri threatened. Yugi laughed.

"You know I have immunity because I've gotten the wishes the most. You made up the rule yourself, remember?" the hikari said smugly. Yami hadn't known that hikari's could be smug. "Your luck is just too good."


	8. Smile, sleeping Willow

Not mine, YuGiOh! Is not mine.

* * *

It was getting close to twilight, and the cave was a flurry of precise, practiced movement. Everyone seemed to know exactly what to do and how. Everything had a sense of long habit to it, which, Yami reminded himself, was true. This was a carefully planned, on-going operation.

He watched Yugi move, keeping track of where everything was going, checking and double checking supplies. Despite being millennia older, currently there was a look in Yugi's eyes that made him feel very, very young in comparison with the shorter teen.

Watching him, Yami recognized some of the mannerisms he himself used, but Yugi never did- well, except for when they shared a body and Yami took over. But instead of looking at Yugi and seeing a mirror opposite, it was startlingly similar. His eyes flickered over and saw Seto watching Yugi as well, no doubt coming to the same conclusion.

Yugi, of course, was ignoring them. Not out of rudeness, but this was an operation. If anything went wrong not being prepared could mean the difference between life and death, no exaggeration. So having two of his friends (he would call Seto a friend because he was, even if he was a rival) watch him like a hawk was not at the top of his priority list.

He was focused on keeping his kids-he always thought of them that way- and his friends safe.

It was a terrible, nerve wracking job. Hard decisions had to be made, and whenever Yugi was there, it was his job to make them. The worst was when someone had to be put in harms way to protect everyone else, and it couldn't always be him that did the most dangerous tasks. Sometimes it required an expert in traps, like Dmitri, or technology, like Leanna.

Yugi was an expert in medicine, and as such he couldn't risk being unable to help others. Which meant sending his friends to do the bad stuff.

It was this part that made Yugi miss Domino, where he never had to make these decisions. That was left to Yami. But nothing in Domino gave him quite the same satisfaction as knowing he had just saved a child's life. Nothing was the same as giving a child his first toy in who knew how many years. He wasn't a teen dependent on his grandfather here. He was a man. In soul, if not in body, he thought wryly.

He knew, in a small part of his mind, that his stranded friends were wondering about the difference in his behavior. He had wondered about it as well. Which was the real him? He toyed vaguely with the idea of a split personality. But no, it was just different aspects of him were needed in different places. Didn't Yami often tell him that he was the stronger of the two? Perhaps this is what he meant.

True, there were those bully problems at high-school, but really. Compared to being shot at, it wasn't a big deal. They thought he was a wimp who couldn't stand up for himself. He surprised them all by standing up for others. He wasn't surprised. That was just how it was. He didn't have to be a leader in Domino- nobody's life was on the line, and if it was, once again, that was Yami's look-out.

At any rate, things were shaping up nicely, although Seto's extra things were causing a bit of trouble, but Kaiba simplified things by consolidating any information and leaving the rest.

"It's just metal," he stated simply. Good. There was no need to be dragging around large metal objects in the middle of a war zone.

At last, they were ready to go. Aden was big enough to move on his own, as was Lochlann, although they were both assigned to Dmitri and Elianna. Cole was carrying Willow, Leanna was point, and Yugi was rear guard. It would take them about four hours to get to the next location, as long as all went well.

Scouting ahead, but not too far, Leanna moved silently through the woods. Even the two little boys moved with a stealth that would have surprised most people observing, and it was at a fair speed as well.

They had to stop, of course, letting the young ones rest. They switched roles silently, knowing the pattern by heart. Yugi was point now, Dmitri was carrying Willow, and Cole was watching their six. There was, perhaps, a bit of pride in Yugi as he watched his family run their operation smooth as clockwork.

Yami, on his part, knew he should be used to the incredible teamwork shown by the teens, yet somehow he was still surprised by it. He was also saddened that such a beautiful country should bear the scars of war. Sure, most of the time you couldn't really tell. But then something would pop up- perhaps a discarded weapon, helmet, or a place where fox-holes pockmarked the ground.

Yugi had explained how the main problem of the war was the lack of leadership. Gozeburo had purposefully killed any decent leaders that arose, essentially guaranteeing continued chaos until leadership arrived in the form of-who else? Gozeburo himself.

War may be a necessary evil, but in this case…it was just evil.

Shaking himself from his dark thoughts, Yami smiled at a sleeping Willow, who had grabbed Dmitri's curly blonde hair in her dreams. And in that moment, he understood more about his aibou than before. He had wondered how aibou could be so…protective of others, how he could stand against evil, and though scared defend his family and friends. Yami now saw a bit more clearly how Yugi saw, how he could give his friends such loyalty- because his friends were his family. Because his loyalty to his friends had saved him.


	9. Dmitri's a Barometer

Disclaimer: YuGiOh! Is so totally not mine, it's not even funny.

Yugi breathed a great sigh of relief once they made it to the safe house. This time it was really a house, at least in a loosely applied term. They had found it by accident. At the time, it had been just a shack hidden behind boulders and brush. With a little time and effort, however, they were able to enlarge it and patch up all the holes in the walls and roof.

Yugi stood admiring the job his family had done, he hadn't been around to see the final stages of work. He did recognize the carved panels over and around the door. He had made them specifically for this purpose, and was glad they were still there.

"Did you do those?" Yami asked, coming up behind his aibou. He examined the wood work. It was incredible. At the bottom was grass, then looking up there were trees, deer, mountains, and the panel over the door had a sun burst on the left and moon and stars on the right. Yugi nodded. "Yep. Took me a bit, but I got it done."

"Wow. I never knew you could do this."

"Jii-chan was nervous about it. He seemed to think that me + knives = danger Will Robinson. Plus, I really enjoy doing it for others. I didn't really know anyone besides him back in Domino. So I stuck with games and puzzles. Good thing too, huh?" he added, smirking just a little. Yami elbowed him playfully, dodging the retaliation successfully.

"You know Yugi, if anyone else found out half as much about you as I have, they'd wonder if they even knew you," Yami told him. Yugi didn't show it, but that hurt just a little. It was true, he did keep things under tight wraps. He had had someone LIVING in his HEAD and that person hadn't known. True, they had kept a nice line of privacy, but still.

It was almost funny, if you thought about it. And they wondered how he managed to be such a good strategist. He had been planning operations, making the best out of the worst possible situations, protecting others at the cost of protecting himself, sacrificing, risking, long before he ever slipped on a duel disk. Duel monsters was really just a game version of his earlier life. Right down to the last-minute lucky draws.

The kids were fed, and put to bed. The older kids, though Yami hesitated to use the word 'kid' to describe any of them, even the youngsters, briefly planned the next stretch, then were left to their own devices as they prepared for the early-morning dash.

"It'll be foggy in the morning," Dmitri said softly, so as to not wake anyone up. Yugi nodded. That both helped and hindered. They were better hidden, but so were all the patrols with jumpy trigger fingers.

"How do you know it'll be foggy?" Mokuba asked. He was older, technically, and was sitting quietly with his brother. Dmitri gave what he thought was a mysterious smile. "Ah, but that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

Eliana rolled her eyes. "He's our weather man. Don't ask us to explain it, but Dmitri just knows what the weather will be like. And with better accuracy than a TV weatherman, if Yugi is to be believed about it. And trust us," she said, smacking Dmitri upside the head, "Dmitri has always been this way. And this annoying as well."

Dmitri rubbed the back of his head. "Annoying? Me? You're the one who keeps hitting people."

Dodging another smack, Dmitri settled behind Yugi, who was busy whittling. "But she is, amazingly, right about one thing. I'm not sure how I know what I do, I just do. Something in the air tells me that fog will come. And it almost always does. I get a feeling when it's going to rain, another when it's going to blow hard, and yet another when cold is expected. It's a gift. Non-refundable, non-transferable."

Dmitri's' normally serious brown eyes were smiling. Mokuba opened his mouth to ask another question when Yugi interrupted. "Careful, Mokuba. Dmitri loves to talk about this. Only ask the question if you care for a few hours' worth of theories and descriptions about his so-called 'gift'."

Dmitri looked indignant for a moment, but as Mokuba asked the question anyway, he was mollified and the two talked in a strange half play half dead serious way, moving from Dmitri's barometric skills to showing where they were on the map.

Yugi sat, counting down mentally until his watch came up. He was on auto-pilot as his knife cut into the wood and a Dark Magician figure was formed. Seto, surprisingly, actually seemed interested in what he was doing. In a very Kaiba, it's just because I have nothing more important to do sort of way. But Yugi did discuss his favorite woods and carving techniques.

"Did you pick it up for yourself, or did someone get you started?" Dmitri asked. He truly didn't know. They generally didn't talk about the past, before they joined up as a group. Heck, they didn't talk much about certain things they had experienced as a group. But seeing how Yugi seemed a bit more…well, both more stressed and yet more relaxed around his Domino friends, Dmitri figured he'd risk it. Darn his curiosity.

"My dad got me started. He gave me my first knife and taught me the proper way to use it. It was actually a month of learning the proper cleaning and safety and care of a knife before I was actually allowed to do more than look at it." He gave a wry grin.

"I was threatened six ways to Sunday about what would happen if I mis-used it. It was really all my mom's idea though, all that extra caution. She was such a safety nut. Always worried about sun burn, mosquito bites, rusty nails. Dad was really laid back about 'childhood trouble', as he called it. They balanced out rather well."

Okay, so that was more than Yugi had actually intended to say. Still, he had managed to actually talk about his parents, so he figured he was doing pretty good. Fortunately, his turn to keep watch came and he bid them all good night.

Sitting alone outside, Yugi couldn't help but wonder if he was avoiding Yami. It felt wrong that he had kept this whole life to himself. But at the time, it had felt even wronger (was that proper? Worse, perhaps? Argh, stop! Focus!) to tell the others about it. If Jii-chan hadn't even known everything, well, why should Yami?

Besides, they had been a bit busy saving the world from 5,000 year old evil beings intent on universe destruction.

And he wasn't making excuses, was he?


	10. Beware the Silence

Indeed, I speak truth: That which is known to many as YuGiOh! Belongs not to me. So sayeth Thor, Norse….

Oh wait, that's still not me. But I don't own YuGiOh! either. So I'm still covered!

It was with an immense amount of relief that they made it to the only safe area in Movia. A vast city of tents and other half shack sorts of shelters sat at the base of a mountain. A swift moving river curved along the west and south side of the camp, forcing the group to walk across a VERY unstable looking/feeling rope bridge.

Yugi and his old friends walked across without a second glance at the bridge. Yami and Mokuba, however, clearly had second thoughts, but both were propelled forward by Seto; although for different reasons. Mokuba followed out of trust but Yami wasn't going to play the wimp in front of Seto. Besides, Yugi had walked across without a problem.

Still, it was with quite a sigh of relief that they arrived on the other side. Yugi shook his head. "We're already practically in range and we haven't even been challenged once! What happened to security procedures?" He shifted the dead weight of a sleeping Willow a bit. Dmitri shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure they procedures were still in place when we left, right? Then something bad must have happened." They stopped, and Yami noticed that the Movian children had paled a bit, though little trepidation actually showed on their faces.

"Cole, go find Asa. Careful. Eliana, scout. We'll stay here in the tree patch until you give the all clear." The two nodded and were off on their assigned missions. Aden asked quietly, "what's wrong?"

"Listen. Do you hear that?" asked Yugi. Aden stopped, listening closely. "I don't really hear anything," he said. Yugi nodded slowly. "Exactly." The boy still looked puzzled. "All right, survival 101. Think about it. Did you see how many tents there are?" A nod. "Right. Then how many people should be there? A lot, true? So, what do lots of people make?"

Yugi waited patiently for the boy to figure it out.

"Oh," said Aden softly. "Lots of noise, right? That's why you wanted me to stop and listen." Yugi gave a solemn nod. "So, when you go somewhere and you notice something is off, what should you do?"

"I understand. You have to see if everything is okay, right? Make sure that no one got in and killed everyone. That there's no enemy anywhere."

"Very good," came the reply. "Yes, I sent Cole to find Asa if he could and Eliana to scout. Hopefully at least one of them will figure it out." He looked at the boy. "Always careful. Remember, it means the difference between life or death, making sure that everything is safe before moving. As far as you can, anyway," and there came a long sigh, "but that's for another day."

Inwardly, Yugi was berating himself. He should have noticed the lack of movement in camp when they had first seen it, but he had simply assumed the early morning hours had been the reason for the now eerie stillness. Stupid! It could have been a trap. He only hoped that if it was, he hadn't sprung it yet, that they could still get out. To where, though, he had no clue.

He kept that pot simmering in the back of his mind, but forced himself to think on the moment. He had no way of knowing how long it would be before the two sent forward came back with news, and he was already on edge enough as it was.

To his utter relief, he spotted both teens coming back, and not trying to hide at all. Well, that was probably a good sign. Unless something in the camp had made them go insane, and they didn't care or remember about being careful and…

Whoa! Yugi pulled himself mentally to a stop. One could go a bit far with worry and paranoia. They needed clear thinking and a calm head, not baseless worries. Cole reached them first and started to explain.

"It's an epidemic. This is the…the abandoned side of camp. They're all on the other side." He was pale and shaken, but kept his voice strong. "It's really bad. We'll take you to the area where those who haven't caught it yet are, and the few" there was a disturbing emphasis on the word 'few', "who have survived it."

This was, Yugi mused, only to be expected. It was a commonly known fact that refugee camps were notorious for having epidemics. Death was expected, even on a large scale. But for the love of sanity, was he supposed to have to deal with it now?

Was he supposed to be this…adjusted to it?

Pushing anything introspective away, he and the others followed Cole to the area where the survivors gathered.

"Half the camp is dead or sick," Eliana reported. "They honestly aren't quite sure what is wrong, what it is. It's like the flu, except it's like there's two different strains of it. That's as far as I got, I wanted to get back to report. But Orren here was forced on bed rest by the other healers, so he can explain what is happening from a medical point of view."

Orren looked dead on his feet- or rather, dead on his cot. "We don't know quite what it is. But there are two strains. One takes weeks to get over, and has a 30% fatality rate. The problem is, it leaves the body weakened and the other strain takes over, and kills within a 24 hour period, and the survival rate for that one is roughly 45%. It has many flu-like symptoms, the first strain does, and the second one is like the flu on steroids."

Orren paused here to rub his hands over his face. "We don't think that it's natural. This has Camp 3 tested all over it."

Yugi paled. Could this be it? Is this what he had been dreading?

"Yugi, what is it? What's wrong?" Yami could have slapped himself. "I mean, what 's wrong that isn't already?" Yugi shook his head. "Not here." They found a place for the children and quickly moved away from everyone else.

"Seto," the short teen began shakily, "I think this might be the weapon we were looking for."


	11. Seperate Thoughts

Oh my, is it that time again already? Fine. The characters, etc., are not mine. Nothing but the coughbrilliantcough plot.

Seto's face set grimly. "What are our options? We need to get out of here with as much information as possible."

Yugi began to recount them. "We could try to make contact. I think there are some satellite phones somewhere, the only real problem is finding them in the midst of all this chaos. Barring that, there are the suppliers and the occasional official visits, a few relief organizations and the like. But we'd have to smuggle ourselves out of camp."

He gave a self satisfied grin. "Not that that's a problem, is it?" Cole and Dmitri choked back laughter, the girls looking on disapprovingly but still visibly holding back their own laughs. Yami looked back and forth between the laughing Movians and a very shell shocked looking Seto.

"Yugi…illegally…" Seto cut himself off before he made a fool out of himself. Mokuba looked far too entertained at his brothers' shock. Seto quickly composed himself. "Yugi, I must say I never knew you had it in you."

"Thank you kindly, Seto. Right then, people. Dmitri, you and Eliana start looking for those phones. Cole, you're on kid-sitting duty until further notice. Leanna, check supplies, compile all information you can get about this epidemic, and if you wouldn't mind Yami, go with her. Seto, we're not sure what condition the sat phones will be in if we get them, so we might need your and Mokuba's expertise on this.

"Alright, does everyone understand their job?" There came a chorus of varying agreements. "Good."

"Hold on, Yugi. Where will you be?" "I'm going to the medical tents. They need all the help they can get, and around here I pass for a doctor." Yugi gave Yami a look of 'no, duh.' Yami in turn looked as though he were about to have a mild coronary, until Yugi cut him off.

"We don't even know how it's getting spread. Orren's here, so they probably aren't worried about person to person contact. It could be water contamination, air-born, anything. Don't borrow trouble, and don't try to fight me on this. You'll lose, you know." Cole seconded that. "You will. It takes an act of heaven to get Yugi to change his mind once it's made up, especially about his leadership decisions."

Seto cleared his throat to gain attention. "Actually, I also have a device that could help. It's essentially an emergency beacon, but it was slightly damaged. We'll try to get it working again, and my people will find us."

"Good. We need every chance we can get," said Yugi, already walking towards the medical section of camp. They all moved off, Yami following Leanna as she moved swiftly through the camp with practiced ease.

* * *

Leanna had her determined face on, but her mind was moving frantically, trying to work out all the different problems, trying to make a mental list of everything she needed to check, all the information she needed. Could things get any worse? She truly wasn't sure. And it didn't help that she had a very distraught, taller clone of her leader/friend following her everywhere. She knew, in the back of her mind, that there was a story behind this. But now wasn't the time. She needed to FOCUS, she needed to think.

* * *

Yami was trying to keep pace. For someone who was a good foot shorter than himself, the girl knew how to move quickly. It didn't help that she sometimes took shortcuts that were difficult for taller folk. Still, he managed to keep pace. A million worries clouded his mind, not the least of which was the fact that Yugi seemed to be avoiding him. It was hard to tell, considering that they had spent the past few days almost constantly in view of each other, but still. And the usually wide open link was kept adamantly closed. This was…everything really, seemed to be meant to confuse the yami.

* * *

Cole kept a carefree countenance whilst among the children playing around him, but his mind was also contemplating the situation. Here was something no one could fight, it was a different battlefield. The protectiveness of the children under his care flared up, and he promised himself that he would do anything to keep his children safe. He just wasn't sure how he was going to keep that promise. But Yugi would be able to do something, he always figured something out. This time wouldn't prove the exception. 'We'll save them,' became his mantra.

* * *

Dmitri wanted to curse vividly in every language he knew, which was quite a few, actually. Where were those (insert expletive here) phones?! Everyone he talked to said to talk to someone else, who inevitably said to talk to someone else. He wasn't angry at the people, they couldn't help it if the entire camp had fallen to pieces as the disease swept through and ravaged the population. Still, he was glad Yugi was here again. He had been rather flattered that Yugi had chosen him to lead in his absence, but he had never really felt comfortable in that position.

And truth be told, he disliked being forced into such a position of responsibility. It was just too hard having people depend on you for life and death decisions.

* * *

Eliana was doing her best not to catch Dmitri's aggravation. It wouldn't do to have both of them completely incensed. At least Yugi was back. She, better than anyone else, understood just how much pressure Dmitri felt in Yugi's absence. Her brother had confided in her all his insecurities, and in turn she had comforted him to the best of her abilities. It did, though, seem somehow very wrong that Yugi had been taken from them. He deserved happiness, truly he did. And his getting out had enabled them to have some form of support for their efforts. Still, he hadn't wanted to go. He had found a new family, and then been ripped apart from them.

There are always losses in war, but Eliana suspected that this particular loss, an unnecessary one had hurt Yugi more than he said. What secrets that boy-no, he hadn't been a boy in a long time-that man could keep. It was funny to think of someone so young-looking as a man, but it was true. She only hoped that Yugi had been able to reclaim some piece of his childhood living in Japan. She loved him! How could she hope otherwise?

* * *

Seto was pretending that he wasn't worried about Mokuba getting sick and focused as much as he could on the small metal bit of hope in front of him. He wasn't about to let his brother die. It was his promise, and he had always kept it.

* * *

Yugi was too busy dashing from one person to the next to really think anything except 'need more of this medication, patient in the corner needs that' for however long it was Yugi kept at it. He had a thought at the back of his head, just before he fell asleep sitting on a crate. He really, really hoped that beacon of Seto's worked.


	12. An Odd Draw

I promise, I don't even pretend to own the characters or anything. I just pretend I can write about their lives.

* * *

Seto had a triumphant gleam in his eye as he finished the beacon. The night had come and gone, with Dmitri and Eliana forced to admit defeat on their mission. Dmitri had switched places with Cole and Eliana was now in the medical center collecting data and helping with patients. The only real question now was how long it would be before they got a response. In actuality, people should be here for him already. He paid them for this, and it wasn't as if the plane had flown into outer space. They should have at least a basic idea of where their boss was.

A lot of heads were going to roll, but for now all they could do was wait- although Seto got to come up with a few cutting remarks for the idiot soon to be ex-employees who had failed.

He looked up as Eliana came in with Yugi, both seeming to hold each other up. Yugi seemed to be protesting, though, until Eliana made the comment "There's a fine line between shirking your duty and getting people killed because you're too tired to do the right things." That shut him up, and both found empty cots (not a hard task) and collapsed.

"How bad is it?" Dmitri asked, tossing the two exhausted teens blankets.

"Bad enough," replied his sister a bit snappishly. An argument might have ensued had she remained in the world of awake, but as it was she was asleep almost before Dmitri could open his mouth to reply.

"She's had a hard time of it. She's working with the little kids, mostly," Yugi interjected sleepily. Dmitri gave a soft 'oh' and moved to tuck the blanket better around his sister.

"How long will you be here for?" "Until I wake up," Yugi replied. Yami was confused (a more and more familiar sensation recently) and Cole explained as Yugi slept, "He has an odd internal alarm. It's like he just knows when he needs to get up, no matter how long he's been sleeping or when." He shook his head. "Trained response, I think. Maybe natural gift, don't even start, Dmitri!" he said, glaring at the teen.

Dmitri 'hmphed' at his lost chance to discuss one of his favorite topics, but satisfied himself with getting some food for the two when they woke up. On Seto's part, he was busying himself with fixing broken electronics. Leanna had come in and was busy compiling all data she had found. It was rough and sparse on solid facts, but it was better than nothing.

* * *

They had at last given up any pretense that it was anything but Camp 3 work, although when they had stopped tiptoeing around it Yugi couldn't remember, not that he wanted to. All he really wanted to do was go to sleep, wake up, and have all of this be nothing more than a bad dream. It didn't seem as though he would get much luck in that, though, as he awoke, and wished desperately that he could continue clinging to the dream world.

Things like this almost made him miss dueling for his and/or his friends to be freed from the Shadow Games. 'I have got to get a more normal life,' he thought, as he got up and stretched. Looking around the tent, he saw that Seto had that incredibly concentrated look on his face he got right before…

"Hah!" Seto gave one triumphant laugh, smirking (quite expertly) at the apparently now working electronic he held in his hand. Mokuba was seated beside him, beaming with pride at his brother's accomplishment. "This should really get things moving now," said Mokuba, though Seto just grunted in reply.

Yugi, moving towards the table, raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "I thought you had already gotten the beacon working," he stated rather than asked. "Of course I did, Moutou. This device, however, will allow me to talk directly to the numbskulls I'm about to call ex-employees who are supposed to be here by now." Yugi nodded with over-exaggerated understanding. "Right. I think I'll just leave you to it."

Shaking the last bit of sleep from his head, Yugi left the tent to fight the never-ending and seemingly hopeless battle against whatever this cursed disease was. He never noticed his Yami's very worried eyes watching him leave.

"A bit odd that he wouldn't even notice you," Seto stated, blunt as ever. Yami snorted, but in truth he was as worried as Seto was about Yugi. And yes, that statement was about as worried as Seto would ever show (bar emotion-inducing painkillers) about anyone besides his brother. This was wearing Yugi down, physically and emotionally. It was increasingly difficult to stay here, doing nothing when every instinct screamed at him to get his hikari somewhere- anywhere- but here.

He also knew that his aibou's kind and loyal nature would never let that be. He moved to sit beside a very much concentrating Leanna, who also didn't notice his presence. Idly, he read over her shoulder some of the figures- and stopped cold. Grabbing the notes, he looked carefully at it again. "Seto," he said sharply. Angry eyes glared at him. "What? I'm actually doing something-"

"Give it to Mokuba, he can talk better than you can. This is something you'll know, and will likely find interesting." Yami gave him a challenging look. Seto complied, though he did so with bad grace. "What, Yami?" he half sneered half grunted. "Do these numbers look anything like-"

"Playing card stats? Yes, they do. Where did these come from?" He asked a startled Leanna. She shrugged. "They came in over the radio a few days before the deaths started. Nobody knew what they meant, but unexplained things tend to be important, so they were copied down anyway. I needed paper but there's not much to spare around here, so I used the back for the information I gathered."

Seto and Yami glanced at each other. The cards indicated- or at least, as far as they could tell from the abbreviations used- were not 'nice' monsters like Dark Magician Girl. Someone was sending a message- this was personal, and it looked as though the crash in the Kaiba plane was not an accident after all.

"Right," said Mokuba, breaking up the dark moment slightly. "People should be here before nightfall." Seto nodded. It looked as though he still wasn't through fighting for ownership of the Kaiba Corporation. Fine. He never backed down from a challenge, and this one was getting far too personal. No-one messes around with the Kaiba brothers and gets away with it. He watched Mokuba, still cheerful despite the gloomy surroundings. Any threats to his brother would be put down immediately. It's what he did.

* * *

Right. Umm...I am SO sorry. I meant to update this well over a year ago...But here it is, the next chapter. And I think I finally know how to end it, too! Thanks if you're still reading, and yes, the reviews helped guilt me into continuing...


	13. Dark Glare Fights

Nothing from, in, or about YuGiOh! is mine.

* * *

"Monster stats. Who would have thought?" Asked Mokuba, earning him odd glances from several people. "I hope that was rhetorical, Mokuba," mumbled Yami. "True. From what Yugi's told us, everything you guys end up doing together has something to do with Duel Monsters and the like" Leanna added. Mokuba laughed. "It's true. Perhaps I should ask why nobody thought of it sooner. With our record, it should have obvious from the first."

Seto snorted quietly, and Yami agreed completely. It was almost ridiculous, if you thought about it sometimes. How many times would wanna-be evil dictators could there be that wanted to use Duel Monsters to take over (or destroy, as the case may be) the world? In his experience, too many.

"I recognize these cards," Seto declared to Yugi. The short duelist waited for further comments. "Most of these don't exist- not really. They are custom made, and officially illegal." Nodding his head in understanding, though mildly frustrated that Seto could not just come out with it and decided to be dramatic _just then_, Yugi made a motion to continue. "I have seen them before. It was from old…allies, I suppose you could say, of Gozeburo. Once again, officially, said alliances never existed. These cards they used as their calling cards."

"Could we skip to the relevant part, please?" a rather annoyed former-Pharaoh asked. Mokuba sighed, knowing that such demands would only annoy Seto more. A dark-glare fight later, with no clear winner, Seto continued speaking.

"They also used the stats as a code. See here? The numbers are slightly off." Yugi 'hmmed' his agreement, trying not to irk any of the egos currently situated in the room. "So do we know what the code actually says?"

"Yes and no. Most of the code is…currently and temporarily unknown. Given more time, I could doubtlessly crack it. I do remember one bit, and it's here, in one of the more recent messages. Right before everyone started getting sick. It's the Ragnarok Signal. Taken from Norse mythology, Ragnarok is the end of Valhalla. In the current situation though, it would appear that it was the sign-"

"the sign to poison the water," Yugi completed.

"And look, you even managed to figure it out without any friendship or 'heart of the cards' speeches" snarked Seto, but it fell rather flat. "When he rescue team finally arrives, Mokuba and I should be able to crack the rest of the code in no time. Hopefully the 'Old Alliance' as they called themselves are as foolish and sure of themselves as I remember. Until then, I'll keep working on the codes in case I can figure anything else out."

Yugi nodded his agreement. "How did you figure out about the Ragnarok Signal bit though?" Yami asked. "As I said, they were foolish and no match for me even back then. It was simple enough, really."

Yugi had gone back to work, doing his best to pretend that this little refuge was not rapidly succumbing to the virus-when the sound of helicopter blades broke through. Trying not to get their hopes up, survivors hesitantly peeked their heads out of the various buildings, straining towards the sky and praying it wasn't another bad thing about to happen-

And the relief was palpable through the camp when the Kaiba Corporation insignia was seen. Yami pretended not to see Seto's smirk as the camp looked on the 'copter as though it were St. George come to save them from the dragon. Yugi noticed Yami pretending and poked him in the side, giving him a sidelong look. Which Yami also ignored.

Seto talked with the pilot as soon as he landed, and for the first time Yami thought that the pressure that had been tight around his chest had eased just the tiniest bit. Please, he thought, let this be the end.

* * *

To answer:

It is unclear to me when in the canon this story is supposed to take place. It is obviously post-Battle City due to the reference to the Duel Disk but giving a specific time period would help me understand the thoughts and philosophies of the characters (as their personalities changed through the course of the series).

Another question is Yami's existence outside Yuugi's body. You made it clear that there was a time when Yami was inside Yuugi (therefore assuring me that this story followed the canon for the most part). What isn't clear is how and when he got his own body.

My last question would be where was Yami that he ended up on a plane with Seto and Mokuba?

I understand if you do not wish to answer these questions and simply expect us to immerse ourselves into the setting you have created for your story but I could not help but wonder.

* * *

Apologies, I have a way of having things inside my head that don't make it to the outside and confusing readers. This is rather AU, so please forgive me! All of this takes place after the series ends- except I am going with a common Fanon theme that Yugi and Yami were given separate bodies after the duel. Yami was (at least in my head) returning from a dueling competition with Seto. Hope this helps, and once again, I apologize for not making it very clear and not responding sooner. I had intended to update this much earlier than I ended up doing.


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